Raindrops and Ginger
by whyskyinthejar
Summary: Oliver Wood's enthusiasm for winning caused practice to increase in frequency forcing his teammates to practice in the heavy rain. It was Harry's second year at Hogwarts.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1 Raindrops and Ginger**

When Professor McGonagall brought Harry to him, he barely stopped dancing around inside the castle of Hogwarts. He had expected his team would win the House Cup last year, but Ravenclaw nailed down the victory. This year, his team had to win. It was his earnest wish to win the Quidditch Cup after six years of losing to the Slytherins.  
It was nearly the end of October. And the weather had gotten worse. Bullets of raindrops thundered on the roofs and windows of the castle. He shoved open the door of the boy's changing room. The room was filled with the peculiar smell of Quidditch gear, old quidditch broomsticks and dirty socks. Harry had already arrived and started taking off his clothes.

Oliver looked at his lean build and said, "You'd better eat more, Harry. You need lots of stamina to win the game."

Harry felt a little offended by his captain's words. Oliver was sometimes too eager to win, often forgetting how the other members would feel about what he said.

In a bad mood, he said, "I've eaten beacon and two eggs on toast every morning. I know my body very well, thank you."

Then the twins entered soaked from head to toe.

Fred said, "It's raining buckets outside. Are you mad, Oliver?"

George responded, "We need umbrellas instead of Beater's bats."

Oliver didn't hesitate and asked them, "Well, did you at least find out what broomsticks they're using for the next match?"

Fred answered, "They're using new Nimbus Two Thousand and Ones. They were shooting through the air like jets."

George said, "They just look like seven green blurs now."

Harry was depressed to hear the unwelcome information about the Slytherins.

Soon the girls were out of their changing room. Harry noticed that they hadn't changed into uniforms yet. Alicia's face seemed to be flushed and Katie was coughing.

Angelina spoke in nasally voice, "Oliver, both Katie and Alicia seem to have caught a cold. They have fevers, too. I think it's spreading because I can't stop sneezing, either. We'll have to take practice off. Sorry." And they left there.

Harry exchanged glances with twins, but Oliver's spirits weren't dampened.

"Well, the odds are that the next match will be played in weather like this. It would be good to get some practice. Are you boys ready?"

Fred groaned and George gave a big sigh and muttered, "Alright. At least we have a big dinner after this. Hunger is the best sauce." He patted Harry on the shoulder trying to cheer him up.

The heavy rain seemed to have a short break. It was drizzling but the wind was picking up. The sky threatened torrents of rain at any moment.

Oliver shouted, "Fred and George, throw a Bludger by turns at Harry. Harry, dodge it and repeat diving and flying up into the air."

Goerge was waiting at the other end. Fred threw the Bludger at Harry on the other side of the pitch. Harry started flying up higher in the air. The first session wasn't so hard. He rather enjoyed the training in the shower of the rain and the wind blowing down from above. The pace of coming Bludgers was slow. It was clear that Fred and George weren't going all out. They seemed to decide that they would make it through by just passing a Bludger not aiming directly at Harry.

Oliver bellowed from the goal posts, "Fred, George, put your whole strength into this! Harry, I'll release the Golden Snitch, now!"

"Keep your temper, Oliver." George shouted back and he returned the Bludger Fred threw from above.

It started raining hard again. It fell down on them in big raindrops. With wet hair stuck to his forehead, Harry squinted at the little glittering wings. He darted towards it but failed. The Golden Snitch slipped away from his right hand.

The wind was now howling in the pitch. He felt like he was fighting the massive gust of wind. Frustration, exhaustion and hunger were filling him. Harry's search for the winged ball seemed to last forever as rain splattered his glasses.

He fantasied over the dinner. He imagined potatoes and beef steaming on his plate and a side of brown gravy that he would pour all over them. Then the winged ball appeared in front of him. Through the haze of the rain he made a second attempt to catch the snitch. This time he succeeded. Oliver looked satisfied and told them that practice was over.

Drenched to the bone, Harry trod miserably to the Gryffindor tower following behind his teammates. Just as the twins and Oliver disappeared behind the portrait of Fat Lady, Harry noticed bright ginger hair to his left. Ginny Weasley stood a few feet away holding out the sports towel for him.

Harry took it and said, "Thank you."

Ginny looked deeply into Harry's eyes, blushed, and turned on her heel. She muttered the password of the Common Room and was through the door before he knew what had happened. Feeling little drops of water trickling down his face, Harry couldn't forget the image of her ginger red hair.

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 **A/N: Many thanks to awesome beta readers, TreacleTart and krazybotharryginny.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Training Obsession (Harry's third year)**

"The next match is Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw," Oliver declared, strutting from left to right in front of team mates, "We have to win." He continued, "Katie, keep possession of the Quaffle as long as you can. Alicia, your scoring rate is rising. Fly your own way to shoot the Quaffle. Don't be afraid of Bludgers. The twins will follow you. Angelina, throwing long shots when you feel it's necessary. And twins-"

Then Fred cut in, "Oliver, we know what you'll say, Don't hit a Bludger directly at the offending Beater!"

"Right. If you do that, we'll be penalized. And Harry," Oliver added lastly, "Show Cho Chang your talent, your acceleration!" Then Oliver approached Harry and he steered him to the corner of the changing room. He said, "Are you sure that you can drive them back?"

Harry looked at him blanky and asked, "Drive them?"

Oliver nodded eagerly and whispered, "The horrible creatures who guard Azkaban."

"Oh, yeah, you mean Dementors." Harry clarified.

"Yeah, can you?" Oliver asked again.

"I think so." Harry shoved his right hand into his pocket and gripped his holly wand tightly.

"Good." Oliver heaved a relieved sigh, and spoke up, "Okay, everyone, it's raining again outside but considering the day of the match will be the same conditions, we can't postpone the training session."

"We have enough, Oliver. Let's do it now." George cut in.

"Okay, George. Don't vent here. One more thing to say."

Every team mates heaved a big sigh and became thoroughly disgusted at Oliver's obsession with strategy meeting.

Oliver continued without a flinch, "Alright, I made a chart for the match."

They groaned. Angelina muttered, "A bloody chart again?"

"Not, one. I made two charts." Oliver pulled the wand out of the pocket of his Quidditch uniform and pointed at a white screen hung on the wall. Then the first chart was displayed on the white screen.

Harry felt giddy seeing colorful arrows with names moving over the board.

Oliver started explaining the first chart, "Well, this light blue arrow is Cho Chang."

Harry squinted at the light blue glint but the light reflected against his glasses, it was hard to see it.

Oliver continued without noticing it, "I analyzed her movement over the last two weeks during the Ravenclaws' morning practices."

George asked, "When could you slip into their training sessions?"

Oliver coughed lightly, "Well, I have many fans among the Ravenclaws."

Fred twisted his words playfully, "Ah ha! I know all the names of your fans."

"You bet? Well, back to the strategy. She has no plan." said Oliver.

"What did you say?" Harry asked astonished.

"She doesn't prepare anything. I guess she'll follow after you and she'll wait for you to find a Snitch." Oliver stared at Harry with a straight face.

"Oh, you can take advantage of her, Harry." Fred patted him on the shoulder, "Show her how far you can dive. She'll give up. I reckon she can't do acrobatic performances."

"And swoop up to the sky like the merpeople dive deep to the bottom and go up to the surface in the Great Lake. Your acceleration is unprecedented in the history of Hogwarts Quidditch match." George joined in.

Oliver called three girls in front of the chart and began lecturing how to dominate the possession of Quaffle. Harry heard Angelina retort against Oliver. George stood near Harry and whispered, "It'll be longer than before. See her face. I reckon the practice will start after thirty minutes."

"That much time?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, our captain loves to discuss more than actual practice. Merlin, save him!" Fred sided with George.

Harry took a step closer to the box of Quidditch balls. He opened it and picked out the Snitch. He sat down on an old wooden chair and let the golden winged ball float in the air. He loved to see the beautiful ball and liked listening to the humming sound. Listening to the sound and the discussion between Oliver and Angelina, Harry dozed off. He had a dream.

He was flying on his Firebolt. The clouds were washed away after long rain. The sky was the colour of grey marble above the horizontal plane of the Great Lake. A beautiful rainbow bridge appeared over Gryffindor Tower. He was heading in that direction. One of the windows of the girls' dormitory caught his eyes. There, a red-haired girl was writing a letter. A small goblin was waiting for her. When he tried to find out who she was, he was shook out of sleep.

Oliver woke him up, "Harry, let's go practice."

Harry stood up from the chair, rubbing his eyes. It was still raining outside. The training session hadn't even started yet.

* * *

 **A/N: Beta by awesome krazybotharryginny. Please leave your insight below. Thank you for stopping by. :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 Fireflies**

The prompt, "Fireflies by Colin & Caroline" & "culture: Southern US" was given by paulatheprokaryote at Jo Rascoph's HPFanfic Around the World Story Challenge (HPFT).

* * *

 _ **"Do you remember that hot July**_

 _ **Lighting up the night like fireflies**_

 _ **Time flew by**_

 _ **Counting that star in the blackest sky**_ _"_

 _-_ _ **Fireflies by Colin & Caroline**_

* * *

Ginny felt like she'd been searching for hours. In the middle of their Quidditch match in the backyard of the Burrow, the Snitch had vanished, and it hadn't come back. She'd already looked in the orchard; now she reached the overgrown reeds near the pond. There, she found them- innumerable yellow-green lights blinking in the dark.

"Fireflies."

Harry's voice came from behind her; it had already cracked, and was much deeper than it had been last time she'd seen him. She glanced back and she was suddenly aware of his height. He was as slender as ever - her mother would be fretting over his undernourishment - but he had, remarkably, grown taller. She noticed how close he was standing, and suddenly had butterflies in her stomach. He was her first love, and would be her only love from now on.

"I wish the Snitch could flash like these fireflies," Harry chuckled, shoving some reeds aside.

"Be careful, Harry. Don't trample the poor fireflies," she scolded, wandering along after him.

"Oops! I think I killed one," he stopped so unexpectedly that she bumped against his back. He smelled like dirt and wood, maybe his Firebolt's.

"Are you sure that the Snitch is over here?" His husky voice attracted her. "Ginny? Are you listening?"

"Oh, yes. I'm sure. Let's keep looking." Then he touched her hair suddenly, and she barely contained a gasp.

"A firefly!" He cupped his hands gingerly around the tiny insect, freeing it, and then released it into the cooling air. "Look!" he said, pointing at the evening sky.

Ginny was enchanted at the sight. Countless stars and fireflies were blinking in the night sky. Fluorescent green and white silver dots were scattered across the dark heavens. She was startled out of her reverie by Harry whispering in her ear.

"Your hair…is different from Ron's."

"Oh, is it? How?" She had no idea what he was going to say. She heard a humming sound near her ear, but was too distracted by Harry to pay it much mind.

"Your hair smells like flowers and…" He trailed off, and his eyes fixed on her hair. Then he grinned widely. "I found it."

His hand brushed through her hair gently, and when he pulled it back, he was clutching a tiny golden ball.

The Weasley's Snitch was so worn out after being used so often by seven children that it had lost its luster. It rested its tired wings in Harry's palms, and he rubbed it fondly like it was his pet.

Seeing his boyish behavior, Ginny felt the urge to confess her feelings; but instead of voicing them, she stepped into the pond. The water was cool and pleasant, especially after staying in the hot July sun all day. Playing no mind to the fact that she was wearing clothes, she started to swim.

"Hey – Ginny, Come back! I can't get the Snitch wet!"

She heard his voice from a distance. Floating on her back, she gazed at the twinkling stars above her. Time seemed to stop for a moment. All stardust and the world were hers. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the breeze blowing across the pond. And she heard someone wade over, making waves lap against her sides.

"I almost forgot how shallow this pond is." With the Snitch in his left hand, Harry took off his spectacles and wiped droplets of water off his face with his arm.

The moon appeared through the night clouds. Under the moonlight, she could see jet-black strands sticking against his forehead. And his beautiful green eyes greeted her softly.

* * *

 **A/N: Great beta read by poppunkpadfoot! I'm eager to listen to your thought. Please leave your comments below.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 A Red Apple in Her Hand**

 _Harry was having a nightmare. One that led him in a bad mood. He was furious. He could feel the snake rising up in him. Slowly, Harry began to shift into a snake in his dream. He was the snake._

Suddenly, Harry awoke. Was that even a dream? He wondered. It had seemed so real. He didn't want to admit it, but he'd been the creature. He couldn't tell anybody about the dream, even to his best mates. He wiped the sweat off his forehead with his sleeve and tried to sit up on his bed. But his scar hurt so hard that he couldn't bring himself to lift his head from the fluffy pillow. He couldn't suppress a groan of pain. Unfortunately, his groan woke Ron.

"Harry, are you okay?"

"I had a bad dream." His scar was still hurting. He held his head with his both hands trying to ease the pain.

Ron climbed down from his bed and came closer. "You look pale. Like you saw a ghost."

What Ron said might be real. Voldemort had been his demon. He killed his parents at Halloween night. He heaved a big sigh and noticed his best mate was also in a bad mood.

"You look gloomy. What's the matter with you?" And he noticed soon, "Quidditch, right?"

"Yeah. You know, Angelina must be angry with me." Ron stared at the floor.

Since Oliver Wood left Hogwarts, the Goddess of the Victory seemed to have abandoned Gryffindor Quidditch team. And Umbridge's arrival had made the situation worse in their fifth year. They hadn't had any proper practices because of her insane school rules and unfairness. But still Harry believed in his team. Making sure his pain was subsiding, he tried to cheer Ron up.

"I know you think Oliver was great, but your save is spectacular. All you need is…" Before he could finish speaking, they heard Neville burp loudly from his bunk. Ron shook his head.

"I reckon he ate one of Fred and George's trial products, one of the chews. I told him not to, but I think he did anyway." He stepped near Neville's bed and crouched down to pull out a washbowl for him. But he noticed a spider crawl out of the dark corner and yelped. "Harry, help!"

Harry got down from the four-poster and caught the spider. Afraid of crashing the tiny creature, cupped it gently between his hands. He reached the window and urged Ron to open it. Frowning, Ron unlocked and shoved open it. A rush of cold air blew in and Harry released the spider outside.

Seamus had been woken by Neville. "Fred and George are geniuses. They've already made more than twenty-five Galleons." He grinned sleepily and helped Neville to pick up the orange chew to calm down the vomit. "Bit early to eat the foul thing though, Neville. Defence with Umbridge doesn't start 'til after breakfast."

Harry thought that it might be a good idea to try the chew to skip Umbridge's lesson. The words, 'I must not tell lies.' were still red raw on his skin. "Neville, I wanna try the one. How much are they?"

Neville with a big gulp managed to stop vomiting. "I'm sorry, Harry," he said weakly, "That was the last one."

"Oh, never mind. It's okay." He needed some fresh air, not the cold wind from outside. He quickly got changed clothes and left the boy's dorm. When he went down the stairs, he saw Peeves in the hallway. Peeves upon spotting him, started singing loudly.

"Potty luurves Chang. Potty luuuuuurves Chang!"

Harry felt a flip in his stomach and shouted, "Stop Peeves! I'll tell Dumbledore that you're lurking around bothering students!"

Peeves didn't stop singing, but he didn't seem to want to be tattled on to the Headmaster and left. That was when he heard voices nearby. Embarrassed by the singing, he hoped nobody had heard what Peeves had said. He pulled out the Invisibility Cloak just in case and approached the spot where the voices were coming from. Around the corner he saw Ginny with Michael Corner. She looked irritated by whatever Michael was saying. She folded her arms and said, "I called for you this early in the morning, because at breakfast table, Umbridge watches us, you know?"

"You just want to protect Potter, right? But he doesn't have interest in you at all."

"I know that!"

Harry thought Ginny was going to cry, but she didn't. He remembered what Hermione said to him the other day. _"_ _Ginny fancied you once. But she gave up and she is going out with Michael."_ As he wanted to make sure what she was going to tell Michael, he was going to chase them. But his scar began hurting again. He managed not to cry out from the pain until Ginny and Michael left for the Great Hall. In the next moment, he became Voldemort again. He was flying in the grey sky searching something very important. On the ground, Muggle performers in Halloween costumes were dancing around a huge bonfire, and one of them was shouting his poem in the audience. Harry was eager to have a look, but Voldemort ignored the show. He landed on the street, at the end of which stood a familiar telephone box. It was easy to get inside, but Voldemort didn't do as Harry imagined. He tried to pull out something big and long, a kind of creature. Harry knew what it was, but before he saw the creature, he was woken from the dream.

"What's the…?" Harry blinked at the vivid red. An apple was held out towards him.

"You didn't have a chance to eat breakfast. I brought you this. Have a bite, Harry." Ginny squatted down and put the apple on his lap. "You look pale. Are you okay?"

"Seriously, I worry about you, mate. You have to talk to Dumbledore." Ron was standing with Hermione next to Ginny.

His Invisibility Cloak seemed to have slipped by his side. Hermione frowned and said,

"How long have you been here, Harry? Do you need to go to the Hospital Wing?"

"No, I'm fine. Just a dream as usual."

"A dream? What kind of dream, Harry?" Hermione sat next to Ginny and observed Harry's condition. "Promise to tell this to Snuffles."

"Okay, I'll tell him…" Harry stared at the red apple. He thought it was very beautiful against the white skin of Ginny's hand.

* * *

 **Author's Note** : This story was written for the HPFT October Gryffindor Writing Challenge hosted by TidalDragon.  
Many many thanks to my great beta, poppunkpadfoot!


	5. Chapter 5

In the dream, he shouted fiercely.

"Life is very short. I can't shut myself away grieving Sirius's death, can I?"

Dumbledore's gleaming blue eyes turned into stars in the morning haze. He blinked, and blue blended with purple and orange.

Suddenly, Harry was woken by a blow to the top of his head from his best mate. Still, the purple and orange color of the twins' Puking Pastille and the blue of Dumbledore's eyes flashed on and off in his mind. He couldn't remember where he put his glasses.

Rubbing his sleepy eyes, he asked Ron, "Wuzzgoinon?" *

Harry heard another familiar voice.

"Ron, stop hitting him!" Hermione reproached Ron and opened the curtain of Ron's bedroom.

The bright morning sunlight dazzled Harry as he shoved his glasses on. Ron was grinning happily down at him.

"Are you all right? You look terrible."

"I could be better," he blurted it out and instantly regretted when he noticed Hermione observing him like a Healer. He was sure that she had been worrying about how he was feeling after the incident at the Ministry. He thought he should be grateful for her care, but he couldn't say it aloud while he thought about Sirius. Once he said the words and saw Hermione's reaction, he knew he wouldn't be able to stay calm. He hastily changed the subject.

"I'm starved. Did you guys eat breakfast?"

"Not yet. Mum will call us soon."

Imagining Molly 's breakfast, his stomach started to make noise. After Ron and Hermione changed the topics to the new Defence against the Dark Arts teacher, Ginny came in and sat down on Harry's bed. The process of the action was done so naturally that Harry didn't care he was still in pyjamas when she passed near him on the way to plonk down. Her ginger long hair smelled of flowers. He expected that she would smile at him, but she looked grumpy. Before Harry could ask why, Ron beat him to it.

"What's wrong with you?"

"I hate the way she talks to me. I'm not three years old!"

Harry thought Ginny was talking about her mother, and he wondered if he could give her advice, but as Ginny complained to Ron and Hermione, it became obvious they were not talking about Mrs. Weasley.

"What is the matter? You've been arguing?"

The question was answered by a young woman carrying a big tray of breakfast. Fleur greeted Harry in her heavy French accent and marched into his bed elegantly. She twirled like a ballet dancer and the tray landed on the destination. She smiled while he was trying to cover up Ron's old maroon pyjamas he wore. She didn't notice his embarrassment and kissed him. Feeling her soft lips on each cheek, he felt like he was walking on fluffy clouds. He noticed Ron's envious look and Ginny's scornful one. Ginny rolled her eyes after Mrs. Weasley called Fleur back to the kitchen. Mrs. Weasley seemed to be annoyed with Fleur's meddling in her care about Harry, usually it was Mrs. Weasley's role.

Ginny's defiant look had him draw back when he started to praise Fleur. He and Fleur were both participants of the Triwizard Tournament, and he felt a connection to her because of that. But Ginny's disliking of Fleur seemed to be beyond her regular tolerance. Both Mrs. Weasley and Ginny looked confused with Bill's girlfriend's behaviours.

Even Hermione agreed with Ginny who preferred Tonks for Bill's future wife.

"Harry, you did better than her at the Triwizard Tournament. I'd have Tonks as Bill's girlfriend over Fleur."

"She did a great job on the first task. She was just unlucky at the second and the third task. If she hadn't faced ..."

He cut his words in the middle to see Ginny's displeased look with his remarks. He wished he would have understood the situation in advance. While wondering how to soothe Ginny, he listened to Ron talk about Tonks after his sister told him that she wished Tonks was part of their family because of her entertaining behaviour.

Ron continued, "She hasn't made us laugh recently. She's been grieving for ages… she's like Moaning Myrtle."

"It's obvious she can't get over… you know… Sirius." Harry felt like Hermione was saying Sirius' name aloud on purpose.

They finally reached the unwelcomed topic for Harry. He wasn't sure how much he would be able to hold on. He wished they could go back to the conversation about Ginny's future sister in law. Not about Sirius now. He quietly started eating breakfast.

From downstairs, they heard Mrs. Weasley calling Ginny, and it was their cue to head downstairs.

* * *

Ginny was in the kitchen with Hermione. After her mother thanked Fleur reluctantly for carrying a breakfast tray to Harry, she let them help preparing breakfast for the Weasley clan, and Ginny was sure her mother couldn't stand being alone with Fleur.

Swishing her wand in her style to let the pan cook bacon and eggs, Fleur said, "Did you see 'Arry's face when I mentioned Gabrielle? I think 'Arry likes 'er."

Without noticing Ginny's annoyed look, Molly swished her wand and let the pan soaked in the water and washed.

Ginny felt increasingly irritated at Fleur. She remembered Gabrielle's beautiful golden hair, which was very similar to Fleur's. As Fleur said, Harry looked happy with the topic.

Ginny could tell Hermione was trying to mediate when she said, "Harry just saved your sister to accomplish the second task. He's so chivalrous, which is typical Gryffindor quality, you know."

"'Arry asked me if Gabrielle was 'ere," Fleur insisted, which made Ginny annoyed more. She hated her for talking to her impudently, treating her like a three-year old child, moreover, she trespassed Ginny's last fort, the fragile heart which couldn't obliterate her first love.

Molly urged them to set all dishes on the table. After they finished the setting, Hermione whispered, "Don't mind about that, Ginny. Harry had no time to care about any girls after Sirius."

What Hermione meant as comfort only made Ginny more miserable. It proved that she couldn't get over Harry after Cho Chang. She needed to go forward. A sudden shower beat the surface of the window of the kitchen. Looking at the raindrops running down, she determined to develop her relationship with Dean Thomas more closely in the coming September.

* * *

A/N : * HPHBP 'An Excess of Phlegm' by J .K . Rowling.

This chapter was written for the story challenge, " The In-Laws Challenge" hosted by PaulaTheProkaryote. Many many thanks to my beta, banshee!


	6. Chapter 6

**The New Beginning**

The new beginning of his sixth year started without Hermione and Ron in the train to Hogwarts. He felt a big hole in his mind without his best mates who had always been with him for the last five years. He was very glad that they made it to be the Prefects. Then he gradually recognized that their promotion meant he had to find the other company in the compartment. Being at a loss for a moment, he looked around and smiled at the familiar ginger red hair a little way along the corridor. Filled with happy feeling that he had felt during staying at the Burrow with her, he approached towards the spot. Chosen as a Gryffindor Quidditch Captain, he had a lot to talk with her about his plan to choose players for the match. Trying to calm down the impatient mind to call her name in public, he dragged his trunk. Suddenly he noticed people stare him, especially the girl students got fidgety. He became aware of the 'Chosen One' rumours in the Daily Prophet and convinced the reason why they surrounded him. Ignoring the crowd, he finally got to her and tapped gently on the shoulder. His nostril breathed in the flowery scent and Ginny turned to him. To his disappointment, she told him she couldn't be with him. Her next words brought him a sudden unpleasant emotion.

"I thought I said I'd meet Dean Thomas." Ginny said lively and turned back to the compartment where Dean and Seamus had occupied.

When he muttered, "Eh…right," she shut the sliding door in front of him.

"Is Harry out there?" Seamus stood up and tried to open the sliding door.

"Let him alone. He enjoys his reputation. Don't disrupt his chance to fancy someone." Dean grinned and beckoned Ginny to sit next to him.

"Hi. How's the summer holidays?" he smiled at her.

"Not bad. How's your summer? Did you enjoy drawing?"

"Yeah, some. Here's one I finished this summer." Dean pulled out a notebook from his pocket and enlarged it.

Her eyes caught paints on his finger nails. "Have you been drawing while waiting for the train?"

"How did you know that? Oops, I forgot wiping my hands. Yeah, right. Actually, I finished the work this morning. Voila!" he handed a portrait of a ginger red haired girl to her.

Ginny showed her joy openly, "It's me!"

Seamus sat down the opposite. "Let me have a look. Whoa! When did you master oil painting? I knew you could do water colors, but is this hand drawing?"

"It's not difficult once you learn using magic. I had a chance to get to know a seventh year Muggle born whose father's hobby is oil painting. The guy's name is Tobias. He taught me how to use the wand for quick painting."

Looking at the portrait, Ginny felt comfortable. Dean was very affectionate. Listening to his gentle baritone voice, she was sure that her choice was right. To be with him brought her a peaceful moment. It was not like the time with Harry. To be with Harry had brought her troubles and she was forced to have uneasy feelings every time the rumors, "Chosen One" or "The Boy Who Lived" mesmerized the girl students in the past. The first day of her fifth year was not exceptional. She had just seen a crowd of girl students surround him before meeting Dean in the train.

Dean pointed his wand on the surface and began sketching the frame of Seamus. The sun was shining in through the window of the train. She enjoyed the cozy space with Dean feeling his warm knee next to hers. Then the brief space of time was broken by a sudden visitor who opened the sliding door roughly. Zakarias Smith barged in and sat down the opposite of her. He grinned and asked her abruptly,

"Hi, Ginny. I've seen you with Harry on the front page of Daily Prophet. What heroic event did you witness? It's regrettable that I couldn't join in the party."

She felt indescribable irritation inside her. "It was not that party at all, Smith. Shut your mouth." Her unexpected fiery response might make him shrink back for a moment, but his strong interest in the rumor around "Chosen One" won and he kept pestering her with the same silly questions.

Dean put in a few words to help her out, "I know you are eager to know, but it's better to let things be unveiled, Zakarias. Harry will tell us the truth when he feels it's necessary."

Seamus didn't say a word, but his eyes were dancing just out of curiosity.

"I am one of Dumbledore's Army. It's not fair you are so secretive." Zakarias repeated.

"I said shut up. If you continue probing, you'll pay for it, Smith." Ginny's right hand reached to her wand.

"Wait, listen. Everyone is eager to know about Sirius Black and what happened in the Ministry. I heard Sirius Black was Harry's god father…"

Zakarias's words were not completed. At the next moment he held his nose and groaned. A large number of bats flew out of his nostrils, from which, blood was dripping. Before casting cleaning charm, Ginny heard someone clap behind her.

"An Excellent charm, young lady. I'm very impressed. I've never seen such a beautiful performance before." A bald headed man was standing at the entrance. Ginny thought he looked like an enormous walrus with a great silver moustache.

"Young lady, my name is Horace Slughorn. You'll see me in the coming class," The walrus professor spoke.

She thought she would get a detention. But professor Slughorn's next words surprised her.

"I'll have a lunch at the compartment C. Don't forget stopping by after you clean up this poor Hufflepuff's blood."

* * *

Harry felt his heart start to beat lively when he found Ginny next to the two seventh-year boys in the compartment C. She looked anxious about the situation that the girl student was only her. Though he didn't know why she was invited to Slughorn's club, his mood got bright. When he tried to make his way towards her, Slughorn started introducing Zabini and McLaggen.

After Belby, he finally mentioned her name. Harry's heartbeat got faster when Slughorn told him she had told Slughorn she knew Harry. And he grinned to see her grimace of embarrassment at that revelation. She was like him. Harry reckoned that she also hated to be under the spotlight. Being with Ginny in the same compartment, he got more cheerful. Though the whole meeting was full of Slughorn's one-man show, he chuckled at the reason why she ended up in there. She defended him from Smith's probing the rumor around the Prophecy.

He regretted that he couldn't stop investigating Malfoy later after he parted with Ginny and Neville. He ended in such a miserable state, with his face stamped hard and broken fingers. He cursed himself that he invited the bad start at his new year because of his careless act. If Tonks hadn't found him, he couldn't even have started his sixth year. Or he wished he would have been carried back to London over being insulted by Snape. Snape added the extra hard task, he told him to march through the Great Hall without his father's Invisibility Cloak. Tolerating people's curious stare, he hurried to the Gryffindor table where his mates and Ginny seated. After he sat down next to Ginny, he caught Malfoy burst out laughing at Slytherin table. His insides nearly exploded and stood up suddenly. Seeing him in such a state, Ginny urged him to sit down and have a bite into a piece of treacle tart. Feeling fury against Malfoy still, its melting sweetness spread inside his mouth. Gradually, his nerve calmed down.

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 **A/N** : This chapter was written for HPFT forums story challenge, "The New Beginnings Challenge" hosted by MuggleMaybe. I'll be back here after my beta's feedback.


	7. Chapter 7

When Ginny heard the way how Ron was poisoned, who she worried about the most was Harry. She was afraid one of the Death Eaters might try to kill him. As she knew her brother was okay after Harry let him have the bezoar and carried to the Hospital Wing, she didn't care about her brother so much. Their parents had arrived and already seen him and been in Dumbledore's office. Watching over her brother, she made sure he was breathing on the bed and her eyes shifted to Hermione who had been gazing at Ron with her pale face.

Harry looked rather spirited while discussing the mystery with Fred and George. She remembered his dream in the future was to become an Auror. Listening to their heated conversation, she thought the job would be suitable for him. She also got animated with the debate on the possibility Slughorn might be a Death Eater.

'Harry has been known as "Chosen One", so loads of people could try to kill him." Fred continued discussing.

George joined, too. 'Or he might be under the Imperius Curse.'

'Wait, I think he is innocent. Someone might put poison in the bottle to kill Slughorn." Ginny said.

"Who tried then?" George asked.

'I think Ginny made a point. Voldemort wanted Slughorn on his side.' Harry was amazed by Ginny's reconstruction. And he recognized that she had been always at his side: at his second year at Diagon Alley, she tried to retort for Malfoy's insult. Last year, she joined in the DA and worked hard at his side against Umbridge. She fought together against the Death Eaters at the Ministry. It was Ginny who understood Harry the most.

She trusted him and stood by him whatever happened. And she grew to be a charming girl before he knew it. He cursed himself that it was too late to notice that. She was Dean's girlfriend now. He had cared what Ron would think of Harry's true feeling for her too much. It was too late to become aware of her as a girl not a sister.

'And, Harry, you forgot Slughorn had been planning to give the bottle to professor Dumbledore as a Christmas present.' Ginny stood up from the stool by Ron's bed and walked to the spot where Harry was standing. After the Daily Prophet informed Voldemort's return, he had been always surrounded by the girls who were mesmerized by the "Chosen One" rumor. There was no exception even in the Quidditch pitch. It had been a long time to see him so close up since she saw him last at the Burrow. His tousled black hair was thick and lustrous as ever. His genuine grin spread across his face, which made her happy. She thanked Merlin that it wasn't him who was poisoned. She felt her heart beat faster when his strikingly beautiful green eyes looked into hers.

Then Hermione's husky voice woke them up from their trance. "Then the culprit didn't know professor Slughorn well."

Hermione's voice made Ron stir. He muttered her name and kept snoring. After a while, Mrs Weasely and Mr Weasely came in and thanked Harry. He felt awkward when they repeated the words to express their gratitude that the half of their family were saved by him.

"We'll see you off, Mum," Fred and George said to Mrs Weasley, who had just hugged Harry tightly.

When they left, Harry said to his best frined,

'Let's go, Hermione. We have to get back to the Common Room before curfew. We'll visit him tomorrow morning.'

But Hermione didn't stand up from the stool. "I'll stay for a while. I promise. I'll be back to the CR before curfew." She pulled a blanket and covered Ron's shoulders up more.

Harry and Ginny exchanged glances and they left for the Gryffindor Tower together. Harry was relieved to find Filch and Peeves didn't appear in the corridor to the marble staircase. Ginny smiled at his caution in spite of before curfew and said,

'I reckon you have your father's Cloak. I want to try it on.'

Harry grinned wide and pulled out the Invisibility Cloak from his pocket. "Here you go." He tried to hand it to her.

She stared it for a while. Harry thought she was impressed by the rare fabric of the Cloak, but her next words were unexpected.

"Why don't we use this together?" Her voice sounded casual, but Harry sensed a slight tension from her. She added hastily, "You know, we, both had better hide from Peeves and Filch."

"A good idea." Feeling a butterfly in his stomach, he barely managed to say it.

He beckoned her to get closer to him and flung it over themselves. The Cloak narrowly covered the two people. His heart beat faster so close to her. Her flowery scent was in the air, and he felt as if he were in a dream. Then Ginny stopped walking and whispered,

'Harry, someone is coming. A ghost.' To his surprise, she looked frightened.

'Are you scared?' He chuckled. The long-haired ghost was drifting past them quietly and calmly.

'No, I'm not.' She pouted. Her cute look was seen beneath the dim torch light in the corridor. Her beautiful ginger red hair sparkled under the iridescent colored fabric.

Without thinking, he leaned in a closer until their foreheads touched and his lips brushed hers. And the next moment, he was afraid that she would push him away. But her hands drifted to his arms and he drew her to him. For a moment, Dean's face flitted through his mind, but her warmth came back on his lips and the kiss got deeper and more passionate. After the intoxicating pleasure, she uttered,

'I'm so glad you are safe, Harry. I had worried about you so much until I knew you were safe. Thank you for saving my brother.'

Harry couldn't find the right words to respond to her. He convinced that she had always loved him. Deeply moved, he planted one more kiss on her, a rose bud-like lips.

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 **A/N** : The prompt for this chapter, "Everyone thought that they knew who he was, but when you're famous no one really knows who you are including yourself. So how is it that she seems to know him so well?" was given by Slytherinchica08. I tried adding the episode unwritten in Rowling's book 6. I hope you'll enjoy Harry Potter AU world. :)


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